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Flood-control focus urged for infrastructure projects

PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN

By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter

THE GOVERNMENT must realign its infrastructure spending priorities to give more weight to flood control projects, analysts said. 

“There is a need to revisit the number, breadth and extent of flood control facilities that are currently operational and make plans to build more,” Terry L. Ridon, and public investment analyst and convenor of think tank InfraWatch PH, said in a Viber message.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reported that infrastructure spending in May rose 31.4% year on year to P136.4 billion.

Month on month, spending rose 14.7%.

Rene S. Santiago, former president of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines, cited the need to update flood-related infrastructure due to the need to respond to climate change.

“An infrastructure built for a 20-year rainfall is expected to be overwhelmed once in 20 years. To the consternation or befuddlement of our engineers, it appears that the 20-year cycle has shortened to 10; most likely due to climate change,” he said via Viber.

“The recent flooding produces the perennial blame-game. Even if our flood control programs had been completed — and they are not — flooding will occur. Only a question of when, not if.”

Nigel Paul C. Villarete, senior adviser on PPP at the technical advisory group Libra Konsult, Inc., said the high infrastructure spending recorded in May was likely due to the advanced preparation of some projects included in the budget.

“While most projects were identified during the budget preparation in the last quarter of the preceding year, the time of execution depends on how ready they are for implementation,” he said via Viber.

“If there are many projects ready for actual implementation for the budget year, they will have a head start in spending.”

The DBM noted that “sizeable disbursements” made by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the construction of roads, bridges, flood control structures, hospital buildings, and multi-purpose building projects were behind the infrastructure spending performance in May.

Solid spending was also reported as a result of the armed forces modernization program, and direct payments made by development partners for the South Commuter Railway Project, the DBM added.

In the first five months of the year, infrastructure spending rose 21.7% year on year to P472.1 billion. This was linked to completed DPWH projects and the speedy processing of payment claims.

Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc., said the government is expected to continue rolling out infrastructure spending in the coming months to “help cushion any soft growth patches due to high borrowing costs and elevated inflation.”

The government targets spending on infrastructure equivalent to 5-6% of gross domestic product.

Safeguard measures for LPG cylinders ruled out

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

THE Tariff Commission (TC)said that it is not recommending the imposition of safeguard duties on imported liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) steel cylinders.

In a report, the TC ruled there was no need to impose safeguard duties in the absence of any serious threat to domestic competitors.

Under the Safeguard Measures Act or Republic Act 8800, tariffs may be raised to aid Philippine industries affected by an undue increase in imports.

The TC has been investigating the safeguard duty application since December.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) had sought the imposition of safeguard duties against imported LPG steel cylinders, in support of an application filed by Ferrotech Steel Corp.

The company said that imports of LPG steel cylinders between 2017 and 2021 had surged, affecting Philippine manufacturers.

“LPG steel cylinders were imported into the Philippines in increased quantities relative to domestic production. The increase in the volumes of imports relative to domestic production can be considered recent, sudden, sharp and significant enough,” the TC said.

In its application the companies were proposing a 10 years of safeguard measures on such imports.

Ferrosteel and another company, FSC Metal Corp. represent about 92% of total domestic production of LPG steel cylinders, according to the DTI.

The TC said after investigation, it found no threat to local industry.

“In the absence of a positive determination of serious injury or threat thereof, neither can the causal relationship between increased imports of LPG steel cylinder and serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry be established,” it added. — Adrian H. Halili

Finance dep’t to enlist GSIS or Maharlika help in disposing of mining assets

DUMAGUETE.COM

By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter

THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) said it may enter into a joint venture (JV) with the Maharlika Investment Corp. or the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to effect the sale of government mining assets.

“We are exploring a JV — possibly with GSIS or Maharlika. So, they will be in charge of finding a partner… if there’s an upside (which we think there is), the government still benefits,” Finance Undersecretary Catherine L. Fong told BusinessWorld via Viber.

The Privatization and Management Office (PMO), an arm of the DoF, is in charge of disposing of government assets and idle property to the private sector.

Delays in the privatization of mining assets have been attributed to the costly process of determining their value, Ms. Fong said.

The PMO said it is still finalizing the valuation of the Basay mining project in Negros Oriental.

“It’s ready for sale because the title is clean. The problem is we only have a desktop valuation. The real value will only be determined with drilling.”

The PMO has been relying on technical assistance from donors to help value the Basay mine.

Privatization aims to generate additional revenue for the government.

Other mining assets are tied up in litigation, delaying their disposal, the PMO said.

“The others have pending cases. Then we’ll have to value them like Basay. The drilling is a little expensive. That’s where we’re stuck,” Ms. Fong said.

“The value of the desktop study is (low) versus the potential value, if only we could verify the quality and size of the remaining minerals. That’s why it’s hard to sell at this point when we only have the desktop study.”

Other mining assets that the government plans to sell include Marcopper Mining Corp. in Marinduque, Maricalum Mining Corp. in Negros Occidental, Pacific Nickel Philippines, Inc. in Surigao del Norte, and the North Davao Mining property in Davao del Norte.

The DoF plans to raise P40 billion from privatization this year.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported that privatization revenue in June surged year on year.

According to the Treasury, the National Government (NG) raised P12.22 million from privatized assets in June, up 252.16% from a year earlier.

The PMO raised P3.24 million from the P2.1-million sale of Northern Cement Corp., and the P1.14-million sale of Nonoc Mining.

The NG also collected P8.93 million from leases and P50,000 in interest income, BTr said.

No revenue was generated from the Al Amanah Islamic Bank and the Metro Manila Development Authority, the BTr said.

The Presidential Commission on Good Government, Philippine Mining Development Corp., and other offices also did not raise privatization revenue, it added.

In the six months to June period, the NG collected P411.52 million from privatized assets, up 673.97% from a year earlier.

In 2023, the PMO collected P1.94 billion in revenue, exceeding its target by 168%.

GOCC subsidies fall 61% in June, up 4.3% vs May

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE HANDOUT

BUDGETARY SUPPORT to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) in June dropped 61% year on year, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.

The BTr reported that subsidies to GOCCs declined to P10.16 billion in June, while increasing 4.3% from May.

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) received the largest subsidy with P7.52 billion, or 74% of all subsidies handed out in June.

The Philippine Rice Research Institute received P345 million while National Power Corp. got P302 million.

GOCCs that received subsidies of at least P100 million are the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority with P272 million, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. P260 million, Philippine Children’s Medical Center P180 million, Philippine Heart Center P139 million, National Kidney and Transplant Institute P133 million, Philippine Coconut Authority P122 million, Cultural Center of the Philippines at P112 million, Philippine National Railways P107 million, and the Small Business Corp. P100 million.

Those who received above P50 million in June were the Development Academy of the Philippines (P82 million), Light Rail Transit Authority (P72 million), Lung Center of the Philippines (P70 million), National Dairy Authority (P67 million), and the Tourism Promotions Board (P63 million).

On the other hand, no subsidies were given to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., Social Housing Finance Corp., Local Water Utilities Administration, National Electrification Administration, National Food Authority, National Housing Authority (NHA), Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, Philippine Postal Corp., the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority.

In the first six months of the year, GOCC subsidies rose by 5.51% to P67.21 billion from P63.7 billion in the same period last year.

NIA was the top recipient in the January-to-June period with P36.53 billion in subsidies. This was followed by PSALM (P8 billion) and the NHA (P3.75 billion).

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort noted that the smaller subsidies could be attributed to government efforts to shrink the budget gap and avoid additional borrowing.

“This could partly reflect the narrower budget deficit during the month, amid some fiscal reform measures such as more disciplined government spending, and maximizing the contribution of GOCCs in terms of higher dividends remitted to the National Government (NG),” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Leonardo A. Lanzona, an economics professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, said GOCC subsidies were limited by the Finance department’s no new taxes rule. 

Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has stood firm in shelving any tax proposals, citing the need to improve revenue collection efficiency first.

In June, the NG’s budget deficit narrowed to P209.1 billion from P225.4 billion in the same month last year.

The government subsidizes GOCCs to help fund operational expenses covered by revenues. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

How AI is transforming the accounting and auditing professions

IN BRIEF:

• Artificial intelligence is poised to reshape the professional services industry by increasing efficiency and creating approximately 58 million jobs according to the World Economic Forum.

• Broader AI adoption relies on responsible, equitable, and people-centered approaches to overcome challenges and transform the accounting profession.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can transform the business landscape for accountants and auditors. Given the fast-paced technological advancements in data mining; machine learning, which in turn fuels generative AI (GenAI); and quantum computing, which can speed up and enhance machine learning, the potential to transform the accounting and audit professions is immense.

As technology continues to evolve, so do accounting and audit professionals as they gain access to huge amounts of data and leverage AI to streamline workflows. Besides data analysis, AI can also be used to improve various accounting and audit processes to save time, reduce human error, and increase efficiency.

Despite AI’s potential, fears persist that it could replace humans by performing tasks faster and more accurately. However, experts from the World Economic Forum (WEF) predict that automation will result in an increase of 58 million jobs, with two-thirds of which being highly skilled. While AI has the power to revolutionize accounting, its real strength lies in supporting the work of highly skilled professionals.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS AND APPLICATIONS
Following a technological lull, the past years saw an uptick of AI applications across various industries. This nascent period saw AI becoming more adept at handling, organizing, and analyzing large sets of both structured/quantitative and unstructured/qualitative data. The digital revolution, which is data-rich, has also sparked interesting AI use cases in different fields.

For example, lease accounting analysis is usually performed by humans; although, some pilot programs show that AI tools could execute the same task more quickly. That is, AI can possibly review up to 80% of the contents of simple lease arrangements, thus allowing humans to focus on more challenging tasks or, in this case, more complex leases.

Nevertheless, AI cannot replace the judgment, experience, and creativity that humans bring to their work. Making value judgments and weighing opportunity costs are still out of the scope of AI.

PREDICTIVE CAPABILITIES
Overall, one of AI’s main strengths lies in its predictive capability. AI could help audit teams reasonably predict future risks and recalibrate their approaches. Additionally, AI presents interesting opportunities for accounting areas like fraud detection.

Another lucrative area for AI is anomaly detection, the predictive value of which underscores AI’s evolution and allows auditors to work more efficiently. Consequently, organizations must ensure that their AI algorithms are compatible with their current infrastructures and workflows, which requires a balance in planning, training, and monitoring.

REAL-WORLD INTERACTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
AI’s second developmental phase, shaped by its interactions with the world, can be seen in voice recognition and similar tools. Other technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), the network of physical devices and objects connected to the internet that collect and share data, could enable AI to synergize with the material world. This shift is often called the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

AI will impact not only audit work but also talent recruitment since it will demand new, diverse profiles, rather than replace existing talent. As such, the industry will need skilled individuals across a wide range of disciplines; moreover, they must understand accounting, its industry, and emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain, and machine learning. By keeping pace with technological advancements, organizations can continue to deliver high-value, high-quality audits.

BUILDING CONFIDENCE IN AI ADOPTION
Goldman Sachs forecast that global AI investment could reach $200 billion by 2025. However, survey data from the International Data Corp. (IDC) — a global market intelligence firm — showed that only 22% of organizations are planning to adopt AI tools, with 52% citing a lack of specialized talent as the top blocker. Moreover, an EY survey showed that 65% of CEOs believe that more work is needed to address various AI-related risks like data privacy, misinformation, and intellectual property.

Building stakeholder trust takes time, and it requires a balanced approach that encourages innovation while minimizing risks. As such, EY has started shaping responsible AI guidelines and frameworks through the EY.ai Confidence Index, a tool that integrates ethical, societal, and public policy considerations. 

DRIVING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH THROUGH AI
AI will reshape the global economy, which will come with new risks and opportunities. Organizations must identify opportunities, leverage AI, and create long-term value to gain a competitive advantage over their peers.

Leaders face the critical task of navigating change management, clarifying AI-related misconceptions, and establishing AI governance. With responsible and people-centered approaches to AI, organizations can drive sustainable growth, empower talent, and transform the accounting and audit professions.

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional advice where the facts and circumstances warrant. The views and opinions expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of SGV & Co.

 

Vivian C. Ruiz is the vice chair and deputy managing partner of SGV & Co.

Delgaco advances to quarterfinals

JOANIE DELGACO — SCREENSHOT FROM CIGNAL AND ONE SPORTS

PARIS — Olympic rookie rower Joanie Delgaco breathed life on her Cinderella bid.

In a virtual knockout race, Ms. Delgaco battled with great resolve, leading repechage 1 from start to finish en route to a quarterfinals entry in the 2024 Paris Games women’s single sculls event.

“Joanie just made history,” said Philippine Rowing Association President Patrick Gregorio, ecstatic with Ms. Delgaco cracking the Top 24 in her first Olympic journey.

Ms. Delgaco is actually the first Filipina rower to ever make the summer spectacle.

A pocket number of Filipino supporters at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium stood as witnesses as Ms. Delgaco shone brightly in the race, topping Vietnam’s Thi Hue Pham, Cuba’s Yariulvis Cobas Garcia, Nicaragua’s Evidelia Gonzalez Jarquin and Togo’s Akoko Komlanvi.

In better groove than in her first race Saturday, the Iriga City native clocked 7:55.00, winning comfortably over second placer and fellow quarters qualifier Pham (8:00.97).

Eased out of the medal play were the rowers from Cuba, Nicaragua and Togo. “Its a good start and she sustains it,” said coach Ed Maerina on the strong performance of the 26-year-old Filipina bet.

In her heat on Saturday, Ms. Delgaco was among the strong starters but faded in the closing meters, thus, missing an outright quarters entry with a fourth-place finish in 7:56.26 over the 2,000m race.

She takes a rest Monday before facing the giants of the sport in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Drawing of lots will determine four groups of six rowers each. The top three from each group will progress to semifinals A and B (in medal contention) while the fourth to sixth placers will be relegated to semifinals C and D (ranking).

“We have confidence in Joanie’s ability, but as always we implore her to stay focused, calm and give her very best in any race no matter the competitors,” said Mr. Gregorio.

In Tokyo in 2021, Chris Niavarez also made the quarterfinals before eventually finishing 23rd out of 31.

Philippines’ first esports ‘super app’ Kalaro offers monetization for organizers, streamers

By Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, Reporter

SINGAPORE-BASED software company Kalaro Holdings Pte Ltd. has launched its super app that hosts esports tournaments while offering monetization opportunities for organizers and content creators.

“Its purpose is to bring monetization to esports stakeholders, like casters, streamers, podcasters, and other content creators. You can send Kalaro gems to your favorite content creators,” Kalaro Founder and Chief Executive Officer Basilio “Jun” D. Lasco, Jr. said via a virtual press briefing on Thursday.

Kalaro version 2.1, launched on Thursday, allows organizers to host small, nationwide, and international esports games. It has started its mobilization for the accreditation of tournament organizers across 82 provinces in the country.

“Our trial tournament and collaboration with the province of Bulacan, the leader was not able to formally finish college, but his execution of tournaments and events are great, even participation of the local brands, and because of that, he was able to monetize,” he said.

Among the supported esports games in Kalaro are Mobile Legends (ML), ML Bang Bang, Call of Duty, Valorant, League of Legends, and more.

“Brands are not limited to advertising and promoting their products inside the platform even if they are not gaming products. But the [brand] storefronts where [in-app currency]’Kalaro Gems’ can be used to buy gaming gadgets and merchandise,” he said.

Gaming merchandise will soon be available for purchase inside Kalaro after the various brands and products have been onboarded to the platform.

Kalaro’s e-wallet can be loaded via GCash, Grabpay, and Alipay, and through online banking transactions, which can be done in 7-Eleven stores. It also partnered with Union Bank of the Philippines to manage e-wallet transactions to deter risk of fraud and cheating.

This can improve the gaming mastery and volume of the current 43 million Filipino gamers from 32 million before the pandemic, he said.

Mr. Lasco said he saw that the market has no available esports platform that catered to Filipinos and ASEAN countries, and mostly to communities in Western countries.

“Kalaro is able to automate the progression from player registration, team formation, or the bracketing, eliminations, semifinals, all the way to the championship round,” he said.

It created a social network hub for gamers so that finding a teammate, a new gamer-friend, a coach, or a competitor for a friendly match, he said.

Open beta testing of Kalaro began in October 2021, which led to gathering feedback from more than 10,000 open beta testers, with more than 60% of them coming from the Philippines.

“Artificial intelligence will continue to be a big factor in accelerating the implementation of Kalaro’s algorithm that matches a user with other fellow gamers,” the company said.

It added that gamer matching is now part of the app’s news feed, but will soon be in a separate module to better the discovery of new gamer-friends inside the platform.

The investment for Kalaro is “more than $1 million and less than $2 million initially” and would spend more to promote the application in the country.

PHL wins Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women’s Invitational

OMGE TOOK HOME $180,000 (About P10.5 million) of the $500,000 prize pool, the largest-ever purse in women’s esports.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A new era dawns for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) women’s esports. Smart Omega Empress (OMGE) on Saturday dethroned stalwarts, Team Vitality (VIT), to take the MLBB Women’s Invitational (MWI) 2024 and write history as the first Filipino team to win a tournament at the Esports World Cup! The all-Filipino team executed a clean sweep over their Indonesian rivals in the Best-Of-Five (BO5) Grand Finals, ending their 24-match winning streak dating back to 2021.

Along with the crown, OMGE took home $180,000 (About P10.5 million) of the $500,000 prize pool, the largest-ever purse in women’s esports. Sheen “Shinoa” Perez was declared the Finals Most Valuable Player (FMVP), taking home $50,000 (about P2.9 million).

The MWI is the biggest MLBB esports tournament for women athletes and aims to provide female players with the platform to pursue their esports ambitions. The MWI 2024 was played in the Amazon Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking the first time that the tournament was held outside of Southeast Asia, as part of the maiden Esports World Cup. The tournament brought together 12 international teams from around the world.

Smart Omega Empress is fielded by Gold Laner Sheen “Shinoa” Perez, Jungler Kaye “Keishi” Alpuerto, Mid Laner Rica “Amoree” Amores, EXP Laner Gwyneth “Ayanami” Diagon, and Roamer Mery Christine “Meraaay” Vivero. The team is led by Coach Salman “KingSalman” Macarambon.

The third edition of the MWI smashed the tournament’s previous viewership record. The MWI 2024 Grand Finals achieved 265,117 Peak Concurrent Viewers (PCV), according to Esports Charts. The previous benchmark of 179,024 PCV was set at MWI 2023, according to Esports Charts.

Ray Ng, Head of Esports Ecosystem at MOONTON Games, said: “The competitive women’s esports scene has taken a huge step forward with the MWI 2024. We believe that esports is for everyone, so we’re delighted to have given the world’s best female athletes the stage and #TimeToShine. We’d also like to thank all of our fans who cheered the roof off the Amazon Arena.”

ROS Elasto Painters sign Tiongson in 3-year deal

RAIN OR SHINE (ROS) has finally secured its top draft pick Caelan Tiongson, striking a three-year deal on Sunday in the thick of the team’s campaign at the 39th Kadayawan Invitational Basketball Tournament.

“Welcome to the Bayan ng ROS family,” said the Elasto Painters after coming to terms at last with their seventh pick in the just-concluded PBA Season 94 Rookie Draft earlier this month.

ROS alternate governor Edison Oribiana, head coach Yeng Guiao, deputy mentor Caloy Garcia and agent Marvin Espiritu of the Espiritu Manotoc Basketball Management (EMBM) joined Tiongson in the contract signing.

It was held in Davao City, where the Elasto Painters are having an unbeaten campaign in three games so far as part of their final build-up for the coming Commissioner’s Cup on Aug. 18 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Mr. Tiongson’s signing with ROS came days after the Elasto Painters also sealed Fil-Swedish ace Felix Lemitti (No. 8) and Francis Escandor (No. 13) to three-year and one-year contracts, respectively, as their first three picks in the loaded draft class.

With the Filipino-American standout finally on board, he’s expected to suit up for ROS in the Kadayawan finals against UAAP champion DeLa Salle University.

Mr. Tiongson, who’s coming off a Jones Cup championship run in Taiwan with Strong Group-Pilipinas, traveled with the squad to Davao City but has yet to suit up in ROS’ first three matches without a signature on the dotted line.

Still, ROS has taken care of its duty by beating De La Salle, 106-105, Phoenix 104-102, and Converge, 119-108, to top the eliminations and gain a finale ticket.

The Green Archers, after a close debut loss against the Elasto Painters, gained a rematch shot at them by besting Converge, 120-112, and Phoenix, 104-102, for a 2-1 slate. — John Bryan Ulanday

Severino settles for second place in Disabled World Chess Championships

SANDER SEVERINO — PSC-POC MEDIA GROUP

THE PHILIPPINES’ Sander Severino faltered in the ninth and final round but still ended up at second place in the International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA) World Chess Championships that concluded in Gyumri, Armenia over the weekend.

Mr. Severino, 39, lost his way in the opening and former IPCA winner International Master Andrei Gurbanov of Israel pounced on it to carve out a 20-move victory in the ninth and final round.

Had the many-time Asian and ASEAN Para Games gold medalist just drawn, he would have taken first place and reclaimed the same crown he last won four years back during the pandemic.

Instead, Kazakh FM Alimzhan Ayapov, who drew with FM Illia Lipilin of FIDE refugee team’s FM Illia Ilipin, took the crown with seven points.

Mr. Severino, for his part, dropped to a five-player logjam at No. 2 with 6.5 points but ended up with the highest tiebreaker score to claim the runner-up finish.

James Infiesto, Mr. Severino and the national para team coach, halved the point with Armenian FM Sargis Sargissyan and finished at eighth spot with six points.

Henry Lopez was 16th while Cheyzer Mendoza 17th with 5.5 points each. — Joey Villar

Warner Bros. Discovery sues NBA over bid for broadcast rights

WARNER Bros. Discovery and its sports division, Turner Broadcasting System, filed a lawsuit on Friday against the National Basketball Association (NBA) in New York over the league’s rejection of its matching bid for media rights.

The media company accused the NBA’s refusal to honor its right to match offers from a third party violates its agreement with Turner Broadcasting System.

“We strongly believe this is not just our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to keep watching our industry-leading NBA content,” TNT Sports said in a statement.

NBA spokesman Michael “Mike” Bass said Warner Bros. Discovery’s claims are “without merit.” — Reuters

Pride at stake

Men’s basketball began yesterday in the Summer Games, and the four matches on tap all lived up to the hype. France and Australia, medalists in the Japan Olympics, bolstered their bids for spots in the Round of Four with identical 12-point victories over Brazil and Spain, respectively. Germany, which came close to beating the United States in an exhibition last week, coasted against Japan, while Canada preserved an early lead to upend Greece by seven. For longtime hoops habitues on this side of the globe who stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to catch the encounters live, the latter proved to be especially rewarding.

True, any contest that features All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cannot but be must-see fare. That said, yesterday’s meeting between Greece and Canada had the added flavor of nationalism. They, and other notable professionals, weren’t playing for a paycheck; in fact, they were risking their livelihood by burning rubber in Paris. Bottom line, they were strutting their stuff for flag and country. It’s why just about every possession was treated as the last, and why they all wore their hearts on their sleeves.

Acclaimed sports writer Grantland Rice once said, “When one great scorer comes to write against your name, He marks, not that you won or lost, but how you played the game.” Well, both Greece and Canada did play the game, and how. It just so happened that they also meant to win — and to the extent that International Basketball Federation rules would allow. By the time the battlesmoke cleared, a whopping 64 free throws off 52 called — and a host of other uncalled — fouls were taken. And it didn’t matter that Antetokounmpo and Company were down early and by as much as 16; they still had a chance to get ahead in the final minute of the payoff period.

Canada’s stalwarts would hold on to preserve their advantage. And in securing their first Summer Games win over the last 24 years, they exemplified the Olympics motto Citius, Altius, Fortius — or, rather, the first part. The last, “Communiter,” was clearly optional for them. Owing to the heat of the battle, they had harsh words instead of handshakes for Greece. Even Gilgeous-Alexander joined in, shouting “What up, b—h” to a fallen opponent. If magnanimity had a face right there and then, it would have been in a milk carton.

Such is competition in the highest stages, and, within the confines of the court, causal observers will not find a better product. Nothing but pride is at stake, and everything with pride is at stake.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

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